Monday, May 31, 2010

The Week That Was!

Ah yes, BY Universe, it has been a while since the last posting... I know.

It was an eventful week, sort of. It all started last weekend with the arrival of Lala and Cousin Mo. There was plenty of Cuteness to go around. Even enough time (and baby sitting) to allow for a couple of dates for the Editor and the Maine.

Lala stayed for the weekend, but Mo dutifully lasted the whole week- helping out with the Pizz, cleaning, cooking, and drinking wine....

Oh, and she even brought some TCA's, which the Pizz wore dutifully... until she figured out how to take it off and put it in her mouth!








Then it was the Pizz's 3/4 birthday! ahhh... 9 months... where did it go? For a gift, she got an empty box of margarine... which she loved! (Almost as much as her empty box of Desitin!)


Then we all decided that it was time for us to increase the brood at the GM. Yes, we have been longing for one for a while, but couldn't figure out how to pull the trigger. So, Saturday the Maine and I just finally decided to go get one. And so we did!

Since, this blog was originally sponsored by Sears, that's where we first looked for our new addition to the GM. We walked in and started looking. The Maine's only requirement was "It had to be cute and sleek.!" Not sure how to find that at Sears.

But there it was! The cutest, sleekest grill in the whole Sears store! It was large enough that I could simultaneously cook 35 burgers at once! (Yes I know) But it wasn't so gaudy or showy. Of course I had to get propane, because I can't stand charcoal. The Maine approved the purchase, and we were now a family + grill!!!




We took it home, and after "some assembly"... the baby was up and ready to burn! We threw all the assorted foodstuffs on the grill, and cooked them up. I was in charge now... the Man of the House!!! Hooray! I was going to assert my authority over fire!!!
So we sat down at the table while the grill as a-cookin!
"Umm... Mike.... Why is there smoke billowing out of the grill?"
"Hmmm..." I turn around and stare... "Oh no worries, ladies, it's just burning off some stuff!"
I nonchalantly amble over to the grill and open her up! Whoosh!!! The Corn!!! oh no!!! The corn (still in the stalks) was fully on fire! Mo had lathered up the cobs with a concoction of garlic, olive oil, and butter. I dutifully replaced the husks back over the cobs, but the stuff must have acted like an accelerant! I start whacking the cobs with my spatula... nothing doing.
"Umm.. do you want to pour some water over it?" Maine asks. "No I got this!"
Whack, whack, whack!! I grab the cobs and move them over (still ablaze) to a pan on the side table. whack, whack, whack... nothing doing on the fire. Still going..
Finally, the Maine comes over and pours her water glass over the cobs... Problem solved.
There goes my grilling license!! (but everything else turned out great!) But such is life in the BY Universe.

(this was shot right before the blaze took out the corn!)

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Saturday, May 22, 2010

One Small Step for Kemper...

... One Giant Leap for BY Universe!!!!

The Pizz is crawling!!!

Oh boy...

It started off as a slow piddle. The Pizz would lean forward on all fours, with one leg still crossed over Indian style. Then the hands started t
o move forward. I figured she would do her usual thing of stopping, when she realized that her legs had to move too.

She didn't...

The legs... they got the message!

Next thing I knew, she was piddling across the kitchen floor to me. Oh boy! I shouted with glee.

Then she made it over where I was sitting. Hoooo-ray!!!

Then I turned her around and threw another toy off in the
distance. The Maine was watching too. She was off....

I got up to grab the camera to KemperVision the moment, but before I could start, she leaned forward and ... ker-plunk! ... a graceful Yarnoz faceplant on the tile! (I couldn't have done it any better if I had my blood drawn!) The waterworks were on!

No more crawling today...

But our lives, as the Maine and I had known them, are over!!!

A much simpler time in our lives!!

Friday, May 14, 2010

Kemper Vision



Warning: The picture is sideways... sorry!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

A Belated Happy Mothers Day!


Well, it came and passed... Mother's Day Weekend 2010.

The First for the BY Universe...


And Daddy was working on call allllll weekend...



Alas....

But the Maine and The Pizz got to play all weekend in the Fortress!













So Happy Mother's Day!
The BY Universe salutes Charmaine aka the GC aka the DQ aka the Maine. I cannot think of any other woman who I would want to have as a role model for the Pizz.
A truly amazing, intelligent, beautiful, sarcastic, sexy, amazing woman for the Pizz to model herself on for years to come...
(except maybe the sexy part...)





Thursday, May 06, 2010

International Package.... of ... Cuteness???

So, as many of you loyal BY viewers may know, this summer the Maine and I are taking the Pizz across the Pond to visit the homeland.

We're very excited, but as the days get closer... fear and apprehension is starting to creep in.
But that is not the story of today, my viewers! Oh No...

Today, is the story of the Pizz' Passport! (or, has I had wanted to call it... Passport to Cuteness!)

About 2 months ago, we realized that the Pizz needed this little document to get across the border. We knew we had to get it early and out of the way.


Before we went to the office, we were a little giddy with ourselves. We figured, for sure, that the Pizz' passport would be amazing. I mean she's the Total Cuteness Package. Plus, we were also buoyed by both of our passport photos, which are probably 2 of our best individual pictures ever....
See Exhibit A and B.















Deep down, I had visions of the three of us, being whisked through customs... with our beautiful US passports assuring us of rockstar like status... I mentioned this to the Maine... She didn't agree out loud, but I could see the wheels turning inside her head. She agreed.
So we took the Pizz, all gussied up to the Passport Agency to get her PtC! She was great (I cannot remember if I had blogged about it before... hmmm). She stayed upright long enough to get a photo... but then the thing was broken! oh gosh. Had to get the backup camera! (oh no!... I can see where this is going...) Photo number 2! Wha- la! Done. End of the day.
Until a couple of weeks ago. We get the "package" in the mail. I knew what it was, instantly before opening it! Yay, the PtC has arrived! I was so giddy as I tore open the envelope. The Maine peeked her head around the corner, and saw what I was doing... She knew what it was as well. She skipped downstairs to join my joy!
I open the envelope and pull out the passport... "Oooooohhh! New design... So modern... So cute!", as I stroke the outside.
"Open it you silly goose!" cackles the Maine.
We open.....
"aghast!!!!!" I shriek!!! Who is that!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! We stare dumbfounded at the photo in the passport. It sort of looked like our daughter. Possibly. But this rendition wasn't cute. Man, she looked like she was some poor orphan, trapped behind the Iron Curtain in some Eastern European country, begging you to adopt her. I think this pic came straight from one of those Sally Struthers commercials... I looked in my wallet for a spare dollar.
A tear came to my eye, as my dreams of rockstar customs status slowly left my head... The Maine sighed too...
I guess the Total Cuteness Package has kryptonite, and thy name is US Passport.



Sunday, May 02, 2010

Before and After

It takes a lot of work being the Total Cuteness Package...

Case in point...



Exhibit A:
This AM, after her morning nap. The Yarnoz' hair curse... Everywhere!
So I go about combing... and combing...
and getting a damp towel...
and another...
and then start using the TCA's
A barrette here
A barrette there...
another barrette...
then ... finally... a masterpiece...
It takes a lot of work... and barrettes... to be cute...